Federal Press Releases and Blogs

The sender of letters to Sen. Roger Wicker and President Obama believed to be laced with ricin closes with the signoff, “I am KC and I approve this message.” This is an obvious allusion to the so-called “stand-by-your ad” disclaimer required by federal campaign finance law (2 U.S.C. § 441d(d)). As I have often noted, […]

Yesterday morning, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism held a hearing on “Current Issues in Campaign Finance Law Enforcement.” With representatives from DOJ and IRS as the central focus of the hearing, subcommittee Chairman Sen. Whitehouse emphasized two main issues: 1) Why the two agencies are not prosecuting certain 501(c)(4) organizations for making […]

CCP Chairman Bradley Smith Testifies Tomorrow Before Senate Judiciary Subcommittee about Campaign Finance Law Enforcement ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Tomorrow morning, CCP Founder and former FEC Chairman Bradley Smith will testify before the the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, as part of a hearing on “Current Issues in Campaign Finance Law Enforcement.” The […]

DATELINE: Monday, July 23, 2012 CONTACT: Sarah Lee, Communications Director, Center for Competitive Politics, 770.598.7961 ALEXANDRIA, Va. – CCP’s Legal Department has filed a “friend of the court” brief in Kilroy v. Husted, a case currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit after being dismissed on 11th Amendment grounds. CCP is arguing that a lower court erred in requiring enforcement to be “imminent” before allowing […]

The House Committee on Administration today voted to send the Fair Elections Now Act, H.R. 6116, to the floor of the House of Representatives. The following is the statement of Center for Competitive Politics President Sean Parnell

“Today the Committee on House Administration voted to divert hundreds of millions, even billions, of taxpayer dollars into the campaign coffers of fringe candidates, incumbents, and candidates favored by well-organized interest groups able to provide the necessary contributions to qualify for public funding. These are not just the conclusions of Republicans opposing the bill, but of 2 Democratic members of the committee including an ardent supporter of the concept of taxpayer funding for political campaigns.”

“In addition to these concerns raised by Democratic Congressmen Artur Davis and Michael Capuano, the simple fact is that this welfare-for-politicians scheme cannot deliver on its promise of cleaner politics, more responsive elected officials, reduced corruption, improved public perception of Congress, or increased civic participation, any more than the failed programs in Arizona and Maine have. Congress should not waste its time with a floor vote on H.R. 6116.”

The Center for Competitive Politics prepared a detailed analysis of the Fair Elections Now Act (then H.R. 1826) last summer, which can be read here

The DISCLOSE Act failed again in the Senate today as Republicans blocked the measure for the second time on a 59-39 vote.

“The DISCLOSE Act was not a serious attempt at campaign finance reform,” said Center for Competitive Politics Chairman Bradley A. Smith, a former Federal Election Commission Chairman. “This bill was written behind closed doors by the majority party to benefit incumbents. Democratic leaders made no serious attempt to pass a bipartisan bill, writing a bill that silences business groups while leaving labor unions largely unfettered.”

The Senate will debate the DISCLOSE Act again Wednesday, with a vote scheduled for Thursday, according to a Twitter message from a top aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Senate Democrats will bring up the same version of the DISCLOSE Act that failed to pass a procedural hurdle in July. Republicans filibustered the bill, noting that it would provide special advantages to unions over business groups, wasn’t up for amendment through the committee process and would advance partisan interests at a time when other priorities loom large.

“Congress hasn’t even passed a budget yet and Senate Democrats are still finding time to rehash a campaign finance bill,” said Bradley A. Smith, the chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics and a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission. “While Americans are concerned about the economy and jobs, Senate Democrats seem most concerned about their own political careers.”

The House Financial Services Committee is considering a bill to restrict the political speech of companies in an attempt to subvert the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

The shareholder regulation bill, H.R. 4790, would amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require an authorization of a majority of shareholders before a public company may make political expenditures. A manager’s amendment, which was not publicly available before today’s hearing, was introduced to make “corrections” to the bill, said Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.), the bill’s sponsor.

“Instead of empowering shareholders, this bill would thwart the ability of companies to engage in political spending to further the economic interests of shareholders,” said Center for Competitive Politics Chairman Bradley A. Smith, a former Federal Election Commission Chairman. “Restricting political decisions to one vote a year would obliterate the First Amendment right of shareholders to advocate for policies that affect legitimate business interests.”

Rather than advancing a less restrictive proposal to allow a majority of shareholders to affirmatively decide to abstain from political spending, this proposal would force all companies to wade through a cumbersome layer of regulation simply to speak out on issues and candidates that may impact their bottom lines.

“This bill addresses a nonexistent problem by unconstitutionally curbing the speech of business groups,” said Center for Competitive Politics President Sean Parnell. “For decades, Congress has placed similar campaign finance regulations on business and unions. This law would depart from that standard and only restrict corporations.”

In a key victory for supporters of free political speech, the DISCLOSE Act failed on a procedural vote today.

Majority Leader Harry Reid invoked cloture on the bill designed to circumvent the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee, but the legislation stalled on a party-line vote.

“This bill wasn’t about disclosure, it was an attempt by the majority to legislate an electoral advantage fewer than 100 days before the midterm elections,” said Center for Competitive Politics Chairman Bradley A. Smith, a former FEC Chairman. “Senators who support free speech in politics must remain vigilant to make sure these campaign finance restrictions aren’t pushed through on a later vote or in a lame duck session.”